An international design competition, organized by the Tiangong Art Gallery Co Ltd, was launched last month in the famed tourist city Hangzhou with attractive prize money offered to draw creative ideas on souvenirs that best represent the city.

Each gold prize winner of the event - Tiangong Art Gallery Cup Hangzhou City Souvenir International Design Competition - will receive 100,000 yuan, followed by 50,000 yuan for sliver awards and 20,000 yuan for bronze. A total of 1 million yuan will be awarded. The most outstanding entries will also be commercially produced.

Contributions should be submitted before February 10, 2010 and will be evaluated by experts.

Like all tourist cities, Hangzhou already offers a wide range of local souvenirs to visitors including Longjing tea, lotus root starch, silk umbrellas, Zhang Xiaoquan scissors and Wangxingji fans.

But a recent letter to Hangzhou's local newspaper from a Hubei province tourist motivated officials to develop more keepsake items. The author wrote that he was touched by the city's beauty but racked his brain think of a proper souvenir before leaving.

According to Cao Zengjie, secretary general of the Hangzhou City Brand Promotion Association, the published letter triggered warm discussion and finally led to the competition.

"With abundant historic and cultural heritage, Hangzhou does not lack of symbolic objects," Cao said. "Yet along with the changing of time, consumer habits have also changed and the traditional symbols like silk and tea have gradually lost their luster.

"So how to develop new kinds of souvenirs is a practical problem for us to solve. Many famous tourism cities across the world have their own souvenirs and Hangzhou also needs suitable keepsakes to help tourists remember the city," Cao said.

A junior student at Zhejiang Gongshang University surnamed Chen who is majoring in advertisement design also noted his difficulties in choosing souvenirs.

"When my friends come to visit Hangzhou or when I return to my hometown, the things my friends and I buy have been just tea and silk. The younger generation wants to buy something more fashionable and special as gifts."

"In addition to the natural beauty of West Lake, Hangzhou also has booming cultural industries. I think the souvenirs should not be some high-end, untouchable craftwork, but something you can find everywhere, very trendy, at a price of no more than 200 yuan."

"I am more concerned about the package and I believe there is a huge market potential for that," said a webmaster surnamed Yu. "Packaging directly affects the way people feel about gifts. It is a kind of identification. As soon as you see the box, you can tell it is a souvenir from Hangzhou."

Clarence is a student from Singapore's Raffles Design Institute majoring in jewelry design. His first impression of Hangzhou was associated with water. "I will put water in my design - it generates a feeling of flowing."

"Like Singapore has the merlion as its symbol, I think I may try to create a logo or a mascot for Hangzhou using the city's symbolic sign," he added.

Zhou Shaoxiong, standing director of Zhejiang Recreation Society, said tourism shopping should be included into the agenda as sightseeing, restaurant and accommodation services become more mature in Hangzhou.

"According to the cask principle, we can expand the tourism market only if we improve the shortest board, which in this case is tourism commodities," said Zhou.

Professor Ye from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, said that the city's gifts should embody an international spirit. "The more Chinese characteristics it has, the more international it will be, just like Chinese knots and calligraphy," Ye said.

"Designers should know that traditional does not equal to old fashioned. Sometimes the combination of the new and the old does a better job of catching people's attention," Ye added.

The competition is hosted by the Hangzhou City Brand Steering Committee Office and Tiangong Art Gallery Co Ltd, and managed by the Hangzhou City Brand Promotion Association. The judging panel will include art experts from Asia, North America and Europe.

(China Daily 12/11/2009 page14)